This book, like architecture itself, is both an individual and a collective endeavor. Without the help of the people listed below, it would still be a collection of notes scribbled on pieces of scrap paper.
Writing a book whose protagonists are two Italian artists presents considerable challenges, and I am enormously grateful to Portia Prebys, Ingrid Rowland, and Charles Scribner III for making them less onerous than they could have been. Their role in helping me to navigate the Rome of today and the Rome of the seventeenth century was extraordinary, and their insights and corrections have made this a better book (though any errors are solely mine). I am also grateful to the historians, experts, and scholars whom I quote, and to Sister Catherine Anne Clark at the Vatican Library and Denise Gavio at the Library of the American Academy in Rome for their help.
Suzanne Gluck, in her omniscience, convinced me that this was a book I could write, and I am very pleased that Henry Ferris at William Morrow agreed with her. His intelligent, thoughtful editing and his enthusiasm for the book—as well as the enthusiasm of Michael Morrison, Lisa Gallagher, Sharyn Rosenblum, Juliette Shapland, and everyone at Morrow—have been gratifying. I also am indebted to Maureen Clark for her careful work on the manuscript.
Sara Nelson, Jane Rosenman, Adriana Trigiani, Lisa Wilson, Marianne Goldstein, Neil Gladstone, Mary Anne Grimes, Matt Herman, Ned Ehrbar, Alex George, and Alex Wellen were especially helpful during the writing of this book. Their patience and understanding were very much appreciated.
And I am enormously grateful to my family. They’ll never know how much they helped me.